(a.) Having a broad, flattened front; as, the bluff bows of a ship.
(a.) Rising steeply with a flat or rounded front.
(a.) Surly; churlish; gruff; rough.
(a.) Abrupt; roughly frank; unceremonious; blunt; brusque; as, a bluff answer; a bluff manner of talking; a bluff sea captain.
(n.) A high, steep bank, as by a river or the sea, or beside a ravine or plain; a cliff with a broad face.
(n.) An act of bluffing; an expression of self-confidence for the purpose of intimidation; braggadocio; as, that is only bluff, or a bluff.
(n.) A game at cards; poker.
(v. t.) To deter (an opponent) from taking the risk of betting on his hand of cards, as the bluffer does by betting heavily on his own hand although it may be of less value.
(v. t.) To frighten or deter from accomplishing a purpose by making a show of confidence in one's strength or resources; as, he bluffed me off.
(v. i.) To act as in the game of bluff.
Example Sentences:
(1) I want to follow the west bank of the river south for some 100 miles to a bluff overlooking the river, where Sitting Bull is buried – and then, in the evening, to return to Bismarck.
(2) Despite huge uncertainties over their ability to pay for carbon capture and storage technology, [Peel subsidiary] Ayrshire Power has decided to go ahead with these plans and call Labour's bluff.
(3) Suppose western leaders called Russia’s bluff and insisted on a no-fly zone over Aleppo and a safe haven in northern Syria for refugees.
(4) Salmond accused the Westminster parties of a combination of bullying and bluff.
(5) On August 2, 1991, a neurologist in Pine Bluff (Jefferson County) in central Arkansas notified the Arkansas Department of Health of two patients hospitalized with St. Louis encephalitis (SLE).
(6) The impending publication of the putative nude pictures, a humiliation that turned out to be a bluff, might have pulled Watson down among the lower orders of former child stars, those people who now exist in the public consciousness merely as cautionary tales to scare naughty teenagers: “Look what happened to Bieber today!”; “Did you see Cyrus in that outfit?” Although Watson has put her head above the parapet before, the provocation cited by the hoaxers was the New York speech she gave last Monday promoting the HeForShe campaign and arguing that gender discrimination harms both men and women.
(7) This bombshell will weaken supreme leader Ali Khamenei, Ahmadinejad, chief negotiator Saeed Jalili, and the rest of Tehran's hardliner crew abroad and at home although, as usual, they will try to bluff their way through.
(8) Peggy was – I think (please correct me if not) – watching NBC’s Coogan’s Bluff knock-off McCloud which began in early 1970.
(9) Cameron added that recent warnings from banks such as Lloyds and RBS, and from firms such as BP and Shell proved that the economic and financial risks of independence were not bluff and bluster or bullying.
(10) A steady rise in the yes vote in recent opinion polls also established that voters did not buy "the bluff and bluster" of those opposed to independence.
(11) These places had their bluff called by the Occupy movement.
(12) The Zappa statue was audaciously suggested by local artists in 1992, as a slightly flippant test of their country's newfound democratic freedoms; to their surprise, the authorities called their bluff.
(13) Most of the sites are of the Bluff phase of Late Woodland in the lower Illinois River valley; others are from a nearby, contemporary archaeological phase.
(14) TV election debates: broadcasters call David Cameron's bluff Read more “They’ve chopped and changed formats, blinked under pressure, refused to consult constructively and now are absurdly threatening not to have the prime minister present.
(15) At that point the ECB’s hand may be looking quite poor – if the market doesn’t call their bluff first.
(16) Amid claims in the markets that politicians in Athens were playing a dangerous game of bluff, a potential schism in the monetary union saw borrowing costs for Spain and Italy rise over fears that contagion could spread from Greece through southern Europe.
(17) With the crisis and the payments protection insurance scandals combining to leave the financial services sector mistrusted as never before, there has never been a more opportune moment for calling the industry's bluff.
(18) This time, however, Scotland is calling the cardinal's bluff.
(19) Coren was author of more than 20 satirical books, a familiar face on television from the 1970s onwards - he was team captain on Call my Bluff - and a regular on Radio 4's News Quiz from 1975.
(20) During a career spanning three decades, she has been a regular on shows such as Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Call My Bluff, and QI, as well as fronting the travel programme Excess Baggage.
Luff
Definition:
(n.) The side of a ship toward the wind.
(n.) The act of sailing a ship close to the wind.
(n.) The roundest part of a ship's bow.
(n.) The forward or weather leech of a sail, especially of the jib, spanker, and other fore-and-aft sails.
(v. i.) To turn the head of a vessel toward the wind; to sail nearer the wind; to turn the tiller so as to make the vessel sail nearer the wind.
Example Sentences:
(1) "There is a real risk that Google, entirely unintentionally, could limit innovation simply because of its dominance," according to Peter Luff, the Conservative chairman of the Business and Enterprise Committee.
(2) Last March Peter Luff , the minister for defence equipment – the position itself is telling – said in a speech in London: "The individual UK armed forces are in themselves a brand … If they are using a particular piece of kit, then that's the kind of endorsement a lot of companies are very keen indeed to have."
(3) "We have 25 independent analysts following the company, and if you look at their forecasts for 2015, there isn't a single one who is forecasting that profit margins will double or anything like that," said Centrica's financial director, Nick Luff.
(4) Politicians from across the parties are also recognised for long service in Westminster, including Kevin Barron, Labour chairman of the standards committee, Peter Luff, a former Tory defence minister, and Richard Ottaway, Conservative chairman of the foreign affairs committee, who are all knighted.
(5) In the months before he switched designation of his second home from Worcester to London, Luff paid for more than £5,000 decorating and repairs.
(6) Sir Peter Luff, the Tory MP for Mid-Worcestershire who is retiring next year, said the main parties needed to communicate better.
(7) Laidlaw wants to bail out as chief executive, and his finance boss, Nick Luff, has already announced his own plans to leave.
(8) On the basis of results from their own investigations, the authors compare the values yielded by the enzymatic method with those obtained by means of the Luff-Schoorl procedure.
(9) Over the past year the company has lost the finance director Nick Luff, British Gas boss Phil Bentley and chairman Sir Roger Carr.
(10) The departure of Chris Weston after just over a year in the job follows the resignation of the finance director, Nick Luff, who is set to be followed by the chief executive, Sam Laidlaw, though his exit has not been confirmed officially.
(11) Yesterday Peter Luff, chairman of the cross-party business and enterprise committee of MPs, told the BBC's Today programme that if the deal had gone ahead it would have meant "a huge concentration of electricity generation in the hands of one supplier, over a quarter of the market in one supplier".
(12) Peter Luff, the Conservative MP for Worcestershire Mid, has insisted Ipsa's rules forced him to move out of his home and rent.
(13) Luff noted that Centrica had put three gas-fired power stations up for sale two months ago and scrapped plans for an offshore windfarm, the Celtic Array off Anglesey.
(14) Nick Luff, Centrica's finance director, said the improvement in the bottom line had been driven by demand returning to "normal levels" among the group's 15.8 million British Gas customers.
(15) Examination of the register of members' interests shows that those who are renting a London home whilst claiming rental income include Liam Fox, the former defence secretary and the former ministers Peter Luff and Nick Harvey.
(16) 1.34pm GMT Peter Luff , the Conservative former defence minister, asks what the purpose of the three new boats will be.
(17) Iain Duncan Smith, the work and pensions secretary, David Gauke, a Treasury minister, and Peter Luff, a junior defence minister, have all already visited Scotland this autumn.
(18) The source said the headhunters looking for Luff's replacement had been asked to look for a new man for the top job at the same time.
(19) Luff and Weston earned £1.2m apiece last year – down from over £3m, which prompted a Financial Times headline warning: "Slimmer pay packets may deter replacements."
(20) Luff said while the rebuff for EDF had few short-term implications: "The government does have to get on with creating the climate in which these new nuclear power stations are built."